James Bond's bathers up for grabs

AUCTION HERO: 007 memorabilia, including trunks worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale , will be auctioned for charity.

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James Bond isn't about to hand over his license to kill, but his bathers are a different story.

The blue striped trunks that Daniel Craig wore in Casino Royale are among memorabilia from 50 years of 007 films that are being put up for auction, mainly online.

The grab bag of 50 lots also includes a belt with a golden buckle, worn in The Man with the Golden Gun, an underwater backpack from The Spy Who Loved Me, cufflinks from For Your Eyes Only and the biggest-ticket offering, an Aston Martin that our hero thrashed in Quantum of Solace.

The collectables - spanning each of Bond's 22 films and the next instalment, Skyfall - will go under the hammer through Christie's auction house to mark the 50th anniversary of the spy franchise's first movie, Dr No, in 1962. Proceeds will go to a dozen charities including UNICEF.

The items are drawn from the archives of Britain's Eon Productions, which makes the Bond films, and come as 007 marketing cranks up in the approach to the anniversary date on October 5, dubbed Global James Bond Day.

Sony announced this week that Craig, the latest Bond in a line stretching back to Sean Connery, will attend the Australian premiere of Skyfall in Sydney on November 16.

Other items up for auction range from outfits, jewellery and posters to curiosities such as suction pads Connery used to crawl up a volcano in You Only Live Twice, a sun-harnessing "Solex Agitator" from The Man with the Golden Gun and tarot cards from Live and Let Die.

The 2008 Aston Martin from the opening car chase in Quantum of Solace has a price estimate of £100,000 to £150,000 ($154,000 to $231,000).

Craig's L-size nylon swimming trunks, which he wore in a Bahamas beach scene described as a homage to Ursula Andress in Dr No, have an auction estimate of £3000 to £5000.

The director of Christie's, Nicolette Tomkinson, said a broad spectrum of prices would be covered and that online bids would start at £50. Forty lots are being auctioned online, without reserve, from September 28 to October 8.

Another 10 of what Christie's calls "star lots" - including Bond "experiences" - will go under the hammer at its London showroom on October 5 while also taking online bids.